Rebels and Thieves
by antipleasure
Summary: McKinley High, a school known for its diversity in burnouts and delinquents, nerds and geeks, preps and jocks, etc. Just like any other high school in the country, it's a miserable place. When [Name] [Surname] comes to town, they're lucky enough to befriend a fellow freak and steal the heart of another, shutting many doors in life they once had available to them.
Mid-September is definitely not my favorite time of the year. Summer vacation is coming to a full stop for kids and teens all over the world enslaved to the education system. Fortunately for me, McKinley High started in August. And the even better news is that I'm going to be the new kid.

I was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin (Go _Packers_!), a couple cities and a state away from Chippewa County. I had a lot of friends - kids I had grown up with - but that was all left behind as soon as my father was laid off from work and that foreclosure sign followed, plunging into the brittle soil of what-used-to-be my front yard. Of course, I'm being dramatic. It wasn't liked I had fled to the other side of the world, thankfully.

My mother had a close friend from high school who lived in Michigan and she managed to put out a good word for us to the landlord of the building she rented. Two weeks later, we're packing up all our shit and heading off on a seven hour drive.

It was Thursday evening when we arrived and were greeted by Rose, my mother's friend and our new neighbor. I had pleaded with my parents the night before to let me skip my first day of school and get familiarized with everything first. I had a tendency to persist, which eventually always led them to agreeing with me, but after the mention of Rose's son, my suggestion went right out the window, "My son goes to McKinley. He drives himself every morning, you can ride with him."

So here I was at seven o'clock on a Friday morning, sitting on the curb beside his car and waiting. It wasn't anything extravagant; a 1973 _Volkswagen_ with a faded paint job and a busted headlight. I didn't bother in knocking on their door. I'm sure his mom had already told him about me. I occupied myself by picking at my nails and humming a few songs in my head.

At around 7:20, I heard a door slamming shut and a pair of keys being tossed in the air. I looked over my shoulder and spotted him, the black bill of a hat shadowing his face. He nodded in my direction as he approached the car, "You [Name]?"

I nodded, picking myself off the ground and dusting off the back of my jeans, "Yeah, it's nice to meet you."

I stuck my hand out towards him, and he looked at me strangely before taking it and shaking my hand, "Yeah."

He walked around to the driver's side as I awkwardly adjusted the strap of my backpack. He got into his seat, leaning over and pulling up the lock on the passenger side. I quickly got in, closing the door behind me and reached for the seat belt. I felt around for it before looking up to where it should be, confused to find nothing there, "Uh, you don't have any seat belts in here?"

He shook his head as the car came to life, "Didn't come with them."

I nodded wordlessly, shimmying off my backpack and holding onto it instead, making my seat more comfortable. I glanced down at the ground, finding empty beer cans and crumpled up receipts strewn everywhere.

"If there's any mess in here, it's because of my friends. They're not really used to cleaning up after themselves." He shifted the gear a few times before releasing his foot off the clutch and sped us off down the street.

"Sorry." I said, embarrassed over the fact that he had caught me silently judging the mess.

"Why are you saying sorry?" He chuckled, making a right turn after a stop, "I know the floor is disgusting. You just reminded me to clean it up later."

The rest of the ride was silent, with the exception of _Genesis_ playing in the background. The school wasn't too far away from where we lived, more or less 30 minutes walking distance. He parked in the school parking lot, reserved for juniors, seniors, and staff only. The loud ignition died as he pulled the keys out, stuffing them into his back pocket. I looked out towards the school, feeling already intimidated by the flock of cheerleaders that passed us by in their short skirts and the jocks in their letterman jackets.

"You can hang out with my friends and I today, see if you like us or not." He said, zipping up his jacket before pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and shoving them into the glove compartment, "I'm Patrick, by the way."

We both got out of the car and I walked alongside him, feeling like a complete foreigner in a new country. He led me to the back of the school and towards the football field where a few players practiced and a couple of heads could seen underneath the bleachers. The smell of smoke was evident as we neared closer, "Fair warning, these guys can get a little crude. I advise you just ignore them."

Before I could respond, a voice beat me to it, calling out Patrick's name, "Yo, man, I can't believe you ditched me at the movies yesterday!"

We stopped in front of a group of four; three boys and one girl, all looking in my direction, "Sunny was there to keep you company. Besides, I had to get to get home. If I didn't finish that stupid paper for English, my mom would've kill me."

The girl put out a cigarette with her shoe, crushing the bud to bits, "Well, it's nice to know who's still a little mamma's boy after all these years."

He rolled his eyes at her before introducing me, "Guys, this is [Name]. They just moved here yesterday. [Name], these wasted shitheads are Daniel, Ken, Nick, and Andrea."

"Hi." I muttered, waving.

"Where did you move from?" Daniel asked me, leaning against one of the beams supporting the bleachers.

"Uh, W-Wisconsin." I stuttered, feeling more nervous than usual around these people.

"I got a cousin who lives in Wisconsin." He replied with a tasteful grin.

Patrick nodded to Nick who sat on the ground with puffy eyes, "What's up with him?"

Ken shook his head, speaking in a monotone fashion, "He's still crying over Bonham."

I frowned, suddenly finding a voice, "John Bonham? Didn't he die more than a week ago?"

Nick scoffed, sniffling and rubbing his eyes, "You guys just don't understand. Us drummers...we all have a connection. We're all just one big happy family," - choked sob - "and that family just got a bit smaller."

After a brief moment of silence, everyone, excluding Nick and I, sputtered with laughter.

"John Bonham didn't even know you fucking existed, man." Daniel choked out through the hilarity.

"Ha, ha, ha," Nick mocked, "Yeah, go ahead and laugh. One day, I'm gonna be famous and when I'm out there touring with _The Who_ , you guys aren't getting shit."

Daniel squatted in front of Nick, playfully punching his arm, "Hey, man, we're just messing with you."

Nick shoved his hand away, "Fuck off, man."

Daniel began to pester Nick more by pulling on his ears and tugging at his hair. When he'd finally had enough, Nick pushed Daniel to the ground and tackled him. They began wrestling around in the grass, giant grins plastered on their faces.

"So, who's driving us to Lindsay's party tonight?" Andrea asked to no one in particular, stepping over Daniel and Nick as they practically rolled around on the ground.

"Who else?" Patrick responded with an annoyed tone, "I'm basically the fucking mom of this group. I never get to drink because by the end of the night, I'm driving all your drunken asses home."

"Your efforts are always appreciated." Ken muttered, adding in to the conversation.

"You're welcome to join us," Andrea said over the horse play in the background, nodding to me, "Lindsay is a friend of ours and there's a kegger at her place tonight at 8."

At that moment, the bell rang loud and clear throughout the perimeter, earning groans from everyone around me. Ken was the first to leave, ignoring my presence completely. Nick went off chasing Daniel into the school and Andrea smiled at me before running off behind the two.

"I'll see you at lunch then." Patrick walked off alone, leaving me to suffer with my anxieties of attending a new school. Soon enough, I began heading towards the place, not wanting to be late to my first class.

I was looking forward to hanging out with Patrick and his friends again. They were definitely an odd bunch.


End file.
